Politics & Government

Time Running Out to Make Charitable, Tax-Deductible Donations for 2011

South Cobb has an abundance of nonprofit organizations which accept tax-deductible donations.

The last week of the year is a busy one for many nonprofits as individuals bring in boxes, bags and barrels of items to give away to make room for the new items they received over the holidays and to reduce their taxable income. Dec. 31 is the last day that donations can be applied to 2011 tax year.

Goodwill of North Georgia is gearing up for what is consistently their busiest week of the year.

“We anticipate serving nearly 67,000 donors this week alone,” stated Elaine Armstrong, a spokeswoman for Goodwill. “We encourage families to gather items now because with the hustle and bustle of the holidays, it’s easy to forget items you intended to donate.”

Find out what's happening in South Cobbwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

South Cobb has an abundance of IRS-qualified nonprofit organizations that accept tax-deductible donations, such as:

  • Goodwill: Donate almost anything– including clothing, furniture, books, DVDs, jewelry, toys, appliances and unwanted computer equipment– to Goodwill at 1717 East West Connector in Austell. Goodwill is reminding donors to double check what they plan to donate before leaving the house
  • Christian Aid Mission Partnership (C.A.M.P.) Deliver food or clothing donations to 6289 Veterans Memorial Drive, Building 12-A, Austell, GA 30168. Mail your check or money order to C.A.M.P., P.O. Box 802, Austell, GA 30168. You can also give online here. For more information about giving to C.A.M.P., click here or call them at (770) 819-0662.
  • Family Life Restoration Center: Deliver food, clothing or monetary donations to 6105 Mableton Parkway, Mableton, GA 30126. Monetary donations can also be mailed. You can also make an online donation here. For more information about giving to FLRC, click here or call them at (770) 944-1066.
  • Survivors Outreach Center has a thrift store at 5900 Maxham Road in Austell that accepts clothing donations. Monetary donations can be made online here. Contact Heather King-Green for more information at survivorsoutreach@gmail.com
  • Center for Family Resources accepts monetary online donations, as well as food and clothing donations. The CFR is located at 995 Roswell Street, N.E., Suite 100, Marietta, Georgia 30060. Call ahead for more information at (770) 428-2601.
  • South Cobb's Serenity House, recently became a 501(c)3 charitable organization. To find out how you can help this organization, contact Anna Doussou, at serenityhousecc@yahoo.com or at (770) 635-7790.
  • MUST Ministries accepts food, clothing and household items at its donation center at 1210B Kennestone Circle, Marietta, GA 30061. You can also donate in a variety of ways; click here to learn more and to donate online. Call ahead to check the donation center's hours of operations at (678) 581-8090.
  • Local churches qualify as a qualified organization. You can deduct any contributions made to them throughout the year. Keep reading for more information about how to do so.

Don't forget to check the organization's website or call ahead for more information about which donations are accepted and the organization's donation acceptance hours.

Find out what's happening in South Cobbwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

 

Tips for tax-deductible charity donations:

  • You can only usually deduct up to 50 percent of your adjusted gross income.
  • To file a legitimate charitable tax-deduction, you must contribute to a qualified organization– a nonprofit religious group, a nonprofit educational group or a nonprofit charitable group. You cannot deduct contributions made to specific individuals, political organizations and candidates. See above for a list of local qualified organizations to which you can make tax-deductible donations.
  • You can deduct charitable, nonprofit contributions, but only if you itemize those deductions on Schedule A on Form 1040.
  •  You can only deduct the amount that exceeds the fair market value of any product or service, like tickets to a baseball game, you receive because of your contribution.
  • Fair market value, according to the IRS’ “Tips for Deducting Charitable Donations,” is “generally the price at which property would change hands between a willing buyer and a willing seller, neither having to buy or sell, and both having reasonable knowledge of all the relevant facts.”
  •  You can deduct mileage or vehicle expenses if you used your car for charitable contributions. You cannot, however, deduct the value of your services or time spent on contributions to charities.
  • Stock and other non-cash property is usually valued at fair market value. Clothing must be in good or better condition if donated to be tax deductible.
  • To deduct a cash, check or other monetary donation, you must show a bank record, payroll deduction records or a written communication from the organization containing the name of the organization, the date of the contribution and amount of the contribution. For text message donations, you can present a telephone bill to meet the record-keeping requirement if it shows the name of the receiving organization, the date of the contribution and the amount given.

 

  • If you are claiming a deduction of $250 or more, you must also provide one document with written acknowledgment from the qualified organization showing the amount of the cash and a description of any property contributed. Additionally, you must have written acknowledgment from the qualified organization showing whether the organization provided any goods or services in exchange for the gift.
  • If all your noncash deductible contributions for the year are more than $500, you must complete and attach IRS Form 8283, Noncash Charitable Contributions, to your return. 
  • If you donate an item or a group of similar items valued at more than $5,000, you must also complete Section B of Form 8283, which generally requires an appraisal by a qualified appraiser.

For more information on charitable contributions, refer to Form 8283 and its instructions, as well as Publication 526, Charitable Contributions. For information on determining value, refer to Publication 561, Determining the Value of Donated Property. These forms and publications are available at http://www.irs.gov or by calling 800-TAX-FORM (800-829-3676).

Additional information, forms and links: 

  • Search for Charities or download Publication 78, Cumulative List of Organizations
  • Publication 526, Charitable Contributions (PDF 178K)
  • Publication 561, Determining the Value of Donated Property (PDF 101K)
  • Form 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return (PDF 176K)
  • Schedule A, Itemized Deductions (PDF)
  • Form 8283, Noncash Charitable Contributions (PDF)
  • Instructions for Form 8283, Noncash Charitable Contributions (PDF)


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here